Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in the elderly. As the population in the United States becomes more aged, the magnitude of this problem will certainly become greater. Significant progress has been made in recent years with regard to the diagnosis and treatment of osteoporotic bone disease. Future treatment possibilities being investigated include cyclical coherence programs and cyclical parathyroid hormone administration. While showing some initial promise, these new modalities have been used only in a limited number of patients and must be considered highly experimental. Despite the progress being made in the treatment of osteoporosis, hope for the future clearly rests with prevention. Arresting bone loss has proven to be much more effective than rebuilding a depleted skeleton. Advances must be made in determining the pathogenesis of osteoporosis with the goal of identifying those individuals at highest risk at a young age, when skeletal mass is still increasing. Intervention could then be aimed at maximizing the peak bone density through a combination of proper nutrition, exercise, and lifestyle changes. Clearly, there is much more to learn about this very common and debilitating disease.